Burning a hole in my pocket

[Coops]

Hello All,

I need a little advice,I currently have a Nexstar 130 SLT but have come in to a little cash so I was considering upgrading to a 10" Dob, But last night I had alot fun with a pair of Steiner Commander 7x50 bino's.

So this got me to thinking may be I should keep the SLT 130 and upgrade to 2" EP and better optics and have a wider FOV, which for me as a beginner is much easy to scout around with.(Guess I could stick to low power)

The GOTO on the SLT I find is a bit hit and miss...Turn left at Orion is far more fun.

So my question is should I get rid of the technology in favour of more aperture or stick with it and go for better optics.Both have merits but you guys know far more than I.

Cheers Pete

[geoff_k]

Pete

Generally, more aperture is good, especially for the Moon and planets where a longer focal length is also very helpful. It can also help you seek out those 'faint fuzzies' especially if you are blessed with dark skies and good seeing.

It depends on how much you have to spend and what you like to look at and then getting the two to fit as best as you can. It will always be a compromise. If you want to take images with your scope that opens up another can of worms.

You may well have grown out of the 130, and a move to a Dob would be a positive step. However, other scopes have their devotees so you need to get to an astro club or star party and look through a few to see which suits you best.

Good luck.

Geof

[scotastro]

Pete

A low power wide angle 2" EP would be a lot cheaper. Buy a good quality EP otherwise the distortion towards the edge can be so great that you again little from it. A quick calc shows a 32mm EP with 68 deg FOV will give a 3 deg actual FOV with your scope. Assuming not too much light pollution a large number of the Messiers and brighter DSOs should be visible in your scope and quite easy to find with such a wide FOV.

A 10inch dob would give much brighter images and higher resolution than your 130, but it is a big scope. My suggestion is to save the money (scopes are still coming down in price) and get more experience with the 130SLT. Plus think about where your interest is leading to. If it is purely visual then the dob is the best bet, but if imaging appeals to you an EQ mount is essential.

One thing though - The reviews for your scope usual comment on the reasonable accuracy of the GOTO. Are you aligning using a high or low mag EP? Within reason the higher the mag the more accurate should be the alignment.

Something I have noticed with the Nexstar range is that the scope is not tracking at all during alignment this means it you are not quick at pushing the button to confirm alignment the star will have drifted off centre giving you a less accurate GOTO.

Scotastro

[lunator]

Pete

That is a tricky question to answer.

My view is to try out a few scopes before taking the plunge as the 130 is a good scope and you want to upgrade to work out.

If you can get access to a few different types of scopes via your astro soc. then that would be beneficial.

Cheers

Ian

[Coops]

Hello Guys,

Thanks for the advice, I think I will go for the 10" as I like the DSO side of things.

but will hang on to the SLT for a while longer, as this will be easier to stick in the car when venturing out.

I guess FLO will be my best bet and then relocate to another part of the world where its not so cloudy every night

Again thanks for the replys

Pete